On Thu, Aug 26, 1999 at 01:11:24PM -0400, Ben Collins wrote > On Thu, Aug 26, 1999 at 01:19:56PM -0500, Ashley Clark wrote: > > On Wed, 25 Aug 1999, Sami Dalouche wrote: > > > I would like to know if there's a possibility with apt (or something else) > > > to do the same that windows/Office 2000. > > > It installs automaticly new software from the CD when you want to start a > > > non-installed function. > > > > > > It could be great if under Debian, when we type a command that don't > > > exist, > > > it would automaticly search the command from a small APT database or from > > > the internet if diald|direct connection is here. > > > And we could specify in a conffile to download the software or to install > > > directly from the CD. > > > > > > Wouldn't it be cool ? Is it possible to program ? > > > > Egads man! That would be a lot of work, for it to work (I personally > > wouldn't > > want it on my machine for numerous reasons) you'd have to make *EVERY* > > program > > that executed a program check with apt/dpkg to see if a package contains > > that > > executable. The only other way around it would be to write a wrapper program > > that would take as arguments the command line to search for and possibly > > install. This would be easier but you'd still have to tell all other > > programs > > to change what they execute in order for your program to search for new > > packages. > > <sarcasm> <snip> > </sarcasm> > > Sorry, auto updating packages to the latest version is one thing, but auto > installing is down right dangerous. Just because it's "nifty" and "easy" > doesn't mean it's a good idea. Gee, Windows itself is "nifty" and "easy" > isn't it? :) >
It would require that ordinary users be able to perform privileged tasks (installing/upgrading software) that may break the system, unless you restrict it to root (in which case, I don't see much benefit). It also requires some way of identifying packages that contain the command, of choosing between then, of dealing with conflicts and alternates (suppose I aim for "smail", and type "qmail"; or, suppose I type "sendmail"), and assumes that the person who wants to run the command is competent to configure it. John P. -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Oh - I - you know - my job is to fear everything." - Bill Gates in Denmark
